Thromb Haemost 2016; 115(03): 657-662
DOI: 10.1160/th15-06-0511
Stroke, Systemic or Venous Thromboembolism
Schattauer GmbH

Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor and incidence of venous thromboembolism

Gunnar Engström
1   Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University, Sweden
,
Bengt Zöller
2   Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University/Region Skåne, Sweden
,
Peter J. Svensson
1   Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University, Sweden
,
Olle Melander
1   Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University, Sweden
,
Margaretha Persson
1   Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University, Sweden
› Author Affiliations

Financial support: The study was supported by the Swedish Heart and Lung foundation, the Swedish Research council, and grants from the Lund University and Skåne University Hospital.
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 24 June 2015

Accepted after major revision: 05 October 2015

Publication Date:
20 March 2018 (online)

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Summary

Raised plasma levels of the soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) have been associated with increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Whether suPAR is associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE) is largely unknown. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between suPAR and incidence of VTE in a cohort study. suPAR was measured in 5,203 subjects (aged 46–68 years, 58 % women) from the general population, who participated in the Malmö Diet and Cancer (MDC) study between 1991 and 1994. Incident cases of VTE were identified from the Swedish patient register during a mean follow-up of 15.7 years. Of 5,203 subjects with measurements of suPAR, 239 had VTE during follow-up (127 venous thrombosis, 86 lung embolism, 26 both). Incidence of VTE was significantly higher in subjects with suPAR levels in the top quartile. Adjusted for age and sex, the HR (4th vs 1st quartile) was 1.74 (95%CI: 1.2–2.6, p for trend=0.003). After adjustments for risk factors, the HR was 1.66 (95 %CI: 1.1–2.5, p for trend=0.016). High level of suPAR was a risk indicator for incidence of VTE in this population-based cohort study. The causal relationships between suPAR and VTE remain to be explored.

Supplementary Material to this article is available online at www.thrombosis-online.com.

Supplementary Material